Paper cup with a stirring spoon made unitary therewith



E. L. THOMA May 15, 1956 PAPER CUP WITH A STIRRING SPOON MADE UNITARY THEREWITH Filed July 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l y, INV EN TOR, (Ga win tszmaa E. L. THOMA May 15, 1956 PAPER CUP WITH A STIRRING SPOON MADE UNITARY THEREWITH Filed July 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 562.0512, $011266.

United States Patent M PAPER CUP WITH A STIRRING sPooN MADE UNITARY rnnnnmm Edwin L. Thoma, River Forest, iii.

Application July 6, 1953, Serial No. 366,089

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-15) This invention relates to a new and improved paper cup with a stirring spoon made unitary therewith.

Recently paper cup manufacturers have developed papers which withstand hot liquids. Thus coffee or other hot beverages may be drunk from paper cups. However, it has still been necessary to employ spoons or other stirring means when using these cups for hot coffee with cream and/or sugar.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a stirring spoon as an integral part of paper cups in such a manner as to not impair the complete nesting of the cups during storage or shipment.

'An important object of this invention is the provision of means in paper cup manufacture for the removable attachment of a stirring spoon to the side walls of paper cups.

Another important object of this invention is to supply a paper cup with a tear-off spoon on the side thereof.

A further important object of this invention is to provide a relatively fiat stirring spoon, vertically disposed closely adjacent the outer side wall of a paper cup and having one end attached thereto with an intermediate perforate connection.

A still further important object of this invention is the provision of means for forming a tear-off stirring spoon as an integral part of a paper cup handle.

Another and still further important object of this invention relates to the formation of a stirrer as a lateral extension of the overlapped portions of a paper cup and having an easy means of separation in the form of a perforated line.

Still another important object of this invention is to supply a paper cup with a unitary spoon fastened to the outside thereof by a vertically disposed perforate adjoining line.

Other and further important objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a paper cup having an integral stirrer spoon on the side thereof.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a paper cup having a modified stirrer spoon attachment.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a paper cup having a still further modified integral stirrer spoon.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of Figure 3.

As shown in the drawings:

The reference numeral 16 indicates generally a paper cup of Figure 1. The cup has a bottom 11 and an open top 12 defined by an annular rim or lip 13. The paper of this cup is resistant to destruction by hot liquids and 2,745,586 Patented May 15, 1956 thus is capable of receiving hot beverages such as coffee. The primary object as stated above is to provide stirrer or spoon means along with the paper cup to make that cup a complete service for those coffee or other hot drink users requiring stirring.

A spoon stirrer made of the same paper as the cup is shown at 14. A continuation or end portion 15 of the spoon is cemented, glued, or otherwise fastened as at 16 to the side wall of the cup adjacent the bottom 11. A horizontally disposed perforation line 17 between the continuing portion and the spoon 14 provides means for the easy removal of the stirring spoon from the portion 15 and the unitary cup.

The spoon comprises an enlarged spoon end 18 and a handle portion 19 permitting a user to measure sugar or other beverage contents and also stir the drink for proper mixing.

The cup and integral spoon are a complete unit usable by picnickers or others when ordinary dishes and silverware are not available or when it is desired to save dishwashing. Other logical users of this device would of course be travelers, guests of hotels and motels, and ofiice and shop workers. The spoon lies in a generally vertical position adjacent to and flat against the side of the cup. Thus nesting of a plurality of cups with spoons is not impaired so that shipment processes by manufacturers need not be changed and users may store a number of thecups in a relatively small space.

In operation the user grabs hold of the spoon stirrer 14 bending it away from the cup about the perforate bend line 17 as shown in Figures 1 and 4 and thereafter tears the spoon loose from the cup along the perforations so that the spoon may be used to stir the beverage contents of the cup. The end portion 15 remains on the outside Wall of the cup. After the cup and spoon stirrer are used both items are disposable.

The reference numeral 20 designates a paper cup having a modified form of stirrer thereon. The cup has a bottom 21 and an open top 22 surrounded by a heavy annular lip 23 corresponding to the lip 13 of Figure 1. Certain of the presently manufactured hot drink cups are equipped with handles by which a user may hold the cup while drinking the contents. These handles take many forms one of which is shown at 24. The handle device 24 is made of a heavy paper stock separate from the cup. A central portion 25 of this handle device is cemented or glued to the outer wall of the cup intermediate the top and bottom thereof. Lateral oppositely extending side portions 26 and 27 of the handle device 24 flank the central portion 25. These wing portions 26 and 27 are not fastened to the side wall of the cup and thus are foldable outwardly away from the cup about vertically disposed hinge lines 23 and 29. The hinge lines are laterally spaced apart and respectively join the hand engaging wing 26 with the stationary central portion 25 and the hand engaging wing 27 with the fixed central portion 25. When the wings 26 and 27 are bent outwardly the cup user may s multaneously grip both of them to securely hold the cup during use.

The handle device 24 is old and does not of itself form a part of this invention although in this modified form the stirrer means constitutes an addition theret A downward extension 30 constitutes a continuation of the central stationary part 25 of the handle and is fastened securely to the side of the cup as shown at 31 by cement or glue or the like. A stirrer spoon 32 is formed as a continuation of the downward extension 39. The spoon lies generally vertically and substantially flat against the side of the cup. As best shown in Figure 5 the spoon stirrer 32 is bent upwardly about a perforated hinge line 33 which is horizontally disposed at the lower end of the extension 30 and closely adjacent the bottom a common cup construction. form of the invention constitutes a part of the cup paper.

21 of the cup 20. The spoon'32 has a hand engaging portion 34 and an enlarged spoon end 35. Use of the spoon after it is torn loose from the cup at the perforation line 33 is identical to the spoon 14 of Figures 1 and 4. The handle device 24 is operated in its usual manner after the spoon is torn off. Thus the cup 20 may be used for hot drinks, held by the handle device 24, and the contents stirred with the auxiliary spoon 32.

A third modification of the invention is shown in Figures 3, 6, and 7 wherein a paper cup 36 has a bottom 37, an open top 38, and an annular lip or rim 39 around the top. The cup is constructed from a sheet of hot liquid resistant paper and has lateral ends 40 and 41 overlapped and cemented or glued along a vertical path 42. This is The spoon stirrer in this A lateral extension 43 of the overlapped end 40 forms a spoon which is usable in the same manner as the stirring spoons 14 and 32 of Figures 1 and 2. The extension or spoon stirrer 43 is joined to the paper end 40 by a vertically disposed perforate line 44 whereby the spoon may be easily torn loose from the cup to be used as a beverage stirrer. Here again the spoon is shaped to simulate a regular spoon and has a handle portion 45 and an enlarged spoon end 46. Use of all of the stirrer spoons is identical. In all instances the spoon lies in a vertical position fiat against the outside of the cup. In the first two modifications the perforate tear line was horizontally arranged, but in this third modification the perforation is vertical.

The advantages of this combination paper cup and stirrer are many. Paper cups will have enlarged horizons of use because of the convenient attachedstirrer and yet the cost of the addition of the stirrer is negligible. Further, the advantageous cup nesting for storage and shipment is not hindered.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a Wide range without departingfrom the principles disclosed herein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A combination paper cup and paper spoon stirrer, said paper cup having a bottom, a generally upwardly extending annular wall from said bottom, said annular wall open at its top and defined by an annular lip, said paper spoon stirrer comprising a spoon portion, a handle, and an end continuing portion from said handle, said end continuing portion and said handle having a perforate line therebetween, cement means fastening the end continuing portion of said spoon to the outer side wall of said paper cup at a position adjacent the bottom thereof, said paper spoon stirrer being vertically disposed and lying flat against the cup and having the spoon portion disposed adjacent the annular lip of the cup, and said perforate line disposed horizontally and parallel to the bottom of the cup, whereby the paper spoon stirrer may be easily torn loose from the cup by tearing on the perforate line.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,457,998 Norwood June 5, 1923 1,607,864 Butler Nov. 23, 1926 1,889,111 Serr Nov. 29, 1932 2,330,878 Foley Oct. 5, 1943 2,378,750 Carew June 19, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 437,392 Great Britain Oct. 29, '1935 

